Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.

[Capt PPRuNe]

OPEIU wins representation at Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.
54 percent vote for union, ending three-year organizing drive...

Metairie, LA (March 13, 2000) - The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) has won representation of the 600 pilots employed by Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (PHI), the nation's largest helicopter company. Of the eligible 540 pilots, OPEIU received 292 votes, the Airline Pilots Association received one vote, and 2 ballots were voided. The PHI pilots will be chartered as an independent OPEIU local union.

"This is a tremendous victory, and one that has been a long time coming for the pilots at PHI," said OPEIU International Business Representative Paul Bohelski. "Despite the efforts of PHI management, the pilots recognized the benefits of OPEIU membership, and now we're going to work to bring fair pay, improved health insurance, retirement security and other rights to these new members."

Today's election was the third conducted at PHI since September 1997. The National Mediation Board (NMB) set the first election aside because it found that the employer interfered with the election process. The NMB ordered a rerun election in February 1999; during the election campaign, PHI implemented a new pay system that richly enhanced the salaries of the less senior pilots who comprised 50 percent of the workforce, while moderately improving the pay for the senior pilots. The result was a management victory by a margin of four votes. Despite charges filed by the OPEIU, the NMB found that these increases were necessary in order for the company to attract new pilots and remain competitive with other helicopter companies. As a result, the pilots and the OPEIU were banned for a year to file again for representation.

The ban ended in October 1999, and the OPEIU once again began a rerun election campaign. The NMB mailed ballots out to all eligible pilots on February 4, 2000, and the vote count was conducted at the NMB offices on March 10, 2000.

Established in 1945, the OPEIU represents more than 130,000 white collar professionals, including health care workers, doctors, engineers, computer programmers, secretaries, librarians, accountants, clerks, teachers, helicopter pilots, models, clinical social workers and others.

[maxdownwash]

Why have the PHI Pilots gone for there own union a division of OPEIU over the Airline Pilots Union?

[Geewhiz]

Good question, Max. This is the same organization that the LifeFlight program in Portland, Oregon unionized under. Could it be that while helicopter pilots want to be treated and respected as their airline co-horts the Airline Pilots Union doesn't seem to see the connection?

[maxdownwash]

Perhaps APEIU offer more then good legal cover for their Helicopter members.

[helidrvr]

As to the question why they didn't join ALPA, I would surmise at least two reasons:

1. ALPA probably wasn't too interested in organizing a drive for a small group of non-airline pilots.

2. Judging by the posts on this and other forums about the support received by helicopter pilots from BALPA and other unions which are primarily airline related, the PHI boys probably figured they would be better off with OPEIU.

Just guessing

http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/cool.gif

[This message has been edited by helidrvr (edited 26 March 2000).]

[Bob Barbanes]

As one who was on the PHI/OPEIU Organizing Committee and who hopes/expects to be on the Bargaining Committee, I can speak to this issue.

There have been union organization drives under way at PHI at various times for over twenty years. Due to a number of factors, the company was always able to defeat them. In all honesty, none of the prior unions (including ALPA) showed much interest. We were very spread out all along the gulf coast, very hard to organize, and the total possible dollar amount in dues that they stood to collect was not considerable.

That all changed in 1996 when certain PHI pilots contacted OPEIU. From the beginning, OPEIU offered a level of support previously unheard of. OPEIU is a fine union to be associated with, and we are proud to have them on our side. They care deeply about helicopter pilots, and intend to be THE national helicopter pilot's union, similar to what ALPA is for airline guys and gals.

Although we had two unsuccessful elections in the last three years, the company "won" by very small margins each time. We on the Organizing Committee knew that a majority of pilots DO want a union in the long run. OPEIU did not give up on us. They kept the faith.

When our major competitor, Air Logistics voted nearly unanimously FOR union representation by OPEIU, it proved that what our companies had told us was a lie: No customers were lost. Air Log did not go out of business. It continued to thrive and in fact take business away from PHI.

We are extremely happy that our third election showed such positive results. This was no 50/50 split. It was such a clear "victory" for the union that PHI is not even contesting the election.

This is a MAJOR step for helicopter pilots, and the ramifications will be far-reaching. We believe that the effects will be positive. Soon, helicopters pilots nationwide will receive the respect, stature and dignity that we DESERVE...that we have EARNED. We are looking forward to keeping PHI the pre-eminent aviation provider that it already is. Having a happy, proud, unified pilot workforce is a big step in that direction.

You can visit our website at www.opeiu.org/heli/ (http://www.opeiu.org/heli/) Click on the button in the upper right corner to view discussion threads similar to this one.

Again, we cannot emphasize how important this is for ALL professional helicopter pilots. OPEIU was able to do what ALPA couldn't. They deserve a lot of credit, and we intend to be associated with them for a long, long time. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments.

Bob -we're in the union now!- Barbanes
Petroleum Helicopters
[email protected]